Newberry Township, Pennsylvania | |
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Township | |
Kise Mill Bridge over Bennett Run
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Location in York County and the state of Pennsylvania. |
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Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
County | York |
Settled | 1734 |
Incorporated | 1742 |
Government | |
• Type | Board of Supervisors |
Area | |
• Total | 30.7 sq mi (80 km2) |
• Land | 30.4 sq mi (79 km2) |
• Water | 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 15,285 |
• Density | 500/sq mi (190/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
Area code(s) | 717 |
Newberry Township is a township in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 15,285 at the 2010 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 30.7 square miles (80 km2), of which 30.4 square miles (79 km2) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2), or 0.91%, is water. The township is located in northern York County in south-central Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River forms the eastern border of the township, and the western part of the township entirely surrounds the borough of Lewisberry.
Prior to the coming of the first settlers in 1736, Newberry Township was inhabited by the Susquehannock Indians. Before 1736, all settlement in Pennsylvania was kept east of the Susquehanna River, but the Indian Treaty of 1736 extended Lancaster County's boundary westward indefinitely. Quaker families from Lancaster and Chester counties immediately set out across the Susquehanna to find new land. These settlers utilized the Middletown Ferry to access the west bank of the river, and once they reached what is now Newberry Township, settled throughout the Fishing Creek and Bennetts Run valleys. Newberry Township was organized in 1742 and included what is now Fairview Township.
Prior to the start of the Revolutionary War, the early Quaker settlers became dissatisfied with the quality of the farmland within Newberry Township and began moving out of it. German families from central York County, and Berks and Lancaster counties, soon arrived to take over the vacant farmland.